"The name's Bond. James Bond."

It's Bond. You know Bond, best spy in the world, real good with the ladies, you know the drill. A while back, EA released their best Bond game yet, Everything or Nothing, and now they release a sequel. The question is, is it as good as the original? Lets look at the aspects of the game...

Story: 8/10
The story is; there's a top secret decoding device called the Lector, it can decode basically anything in the world. There's a really bad group of assassins named "Octopus", that want the Lector so they can take over the world. Is it just me or is the "take over the world" road getting a little crowded? Anyway, Bond goes to Russia to retrieve the Lector, and somehow gets in trouble with the Soviet Union. Now you've got two groups to plow through with guns blazing. Anyhoo, your goal in the game is to retrieve the Lector with all your cool guns and awesome gadgets, defeating the Octopus assassins on the way, and avoiding the Soviet Union as best as possible. Are you up for it?

Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay is very solid, the gunning missions are tons of fun, and plenty of challenge (unless you're on Operative mode). There are lots of enemies to shoot through with guns blazing, and plenty of guns to shoot them with. You also have to use you're awesome gadgets (such as your Q-Copter) to get past a few mini-puzzles. The game engine is taken from Everything or Nothing, so expect a much better Bond game then the previous FPS adventures. They also throw in a few typical mission-based driving levels, which are good, but not as good as Everything or Nothing's driving missions.

It also uses some customization/RPG elements as well. Finding hidden schematics and opening Apache cases will earn you research Points, which you can use to make your guns and gadgets even more deadly. You can also find hidden suits that you can wear any time after you find them, which "customizes your Bond". A nice addition, but if I wanted customization, I would have bought The Sims 2...

Graphics: 10/10
Very good graphics, even better than the Everything or Nothing. The guns Bond carries look very real, and even reload the same way you would reload them in real life. The baddies have lots of variety, ranging from assassins to Soviet powerhouses (it's true, Godzilla lives).

Sound: 10/10
Excellent sound, very detailed. The best part is that Sean Connery actually voiced James Bond in the game! The enemies have very good voice acting as well, with the Soviet Soldiers having Russian accents. They also "talk" to each other, for instance, when take cover behind the wall, one will probably say "He's hiding behind the wall!". If you hide behind a desk, they'll say "He's taking cover!". Very impressive.

Controls: 8/10
Not the best, but they work for this game. It may feel kind of slow at first, but you'll get used to it by the third mission at the latest. The hardest thing to adapt to is that there's NO JUMP BUTTON, and if you have to jump somewhere, you have to get next to it and press the action button when it says "Jump". This takes quite a while to get used to, but you'll probably adapt to it by the forth mission.

Multiplayer: 10/10
Really great multiplayer, I completed the game long ago but my friends still play this together. There are many levels to play in, each with its own unique traps. I wont spoil the traps for you, because its fun to figure them out on you're own. You can also use points (not research points) that you earn in the single player to buy extra players in multiplayer! It takes a while because in the multiplayer, you can unlock every single enemy/boss in the game (that's a lot)! It even has a couple other characters that may surprise you, but I wont spoil those either.

Replay Value: 9/10
Tons of stuff to even after you complete the game. There are four awards you can unlock in every level. One for a good time, one for getting the "Bond Moment", one for completing it in 00 Agent (aka hard mode), and one for killing a certain number of baddies. There are also 4 unlockable missions for getting lots of awards. You can also get all the schematics to super-power you're arsenal, and get lots of points to unlock things like videos, concept art, and Multiplayer characters! That's enough replay to keep ya busy for about 2-3 weeks!

Overall: 9/10
The story's decent, but not the most original. The gameplay is great, tons of fun. The graphics are excellent, especially the guns. The sound is excellent (Sean Connery!). The controls work, but could use some work on precision (and especially a jump button...). The multiplayer is excellent, should keep you and your friends entertained for months! And the replay value is great, averaging at about 2-3 weeks of replay.

Rent or Buy? Definitely buy! The game is selling for about 20 bucks nowadays, and if you get it used, it's even less! So go out and get it today!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/06